Monday, August 24, 2015

Adventures in Peyton: Great Families, The Paint Mine, Manitou Incline and More

Hi All,

Well it's been another crazy week here in Colorado and a lot has happened. We are teaching a lot of people and we travel all over. Some people want to meet in the library and some want to meet at their house which can be up to 35 minutes away. We have three upcoming appointments, so hopefully we can teach them. I am so ready to teach. The houses here are amazing. It seems like at the bare minimum everyone here has 20 acres. 

Last P-day was a P-Day to go down in the books! we went to the Paint Mines in Callahan CO. It was awesome - that was until we got caught in hail. It was about a mile walk to get all the way to the mines. Then we got a tornado warning...Since we had driven like 20 miles and walked over a mile to get there we just wanted to keep going. Don't worry - I got some amazing photos. So after the initial warning, it took about 30 minutes for it to start pouring. So we headed back, slipping and sliding through the mud. It was fun until the hailstorm started....that hurt!!! It was Sister Park's (from South Korea's) and my first time in hail and we had no clue what was going on! ha ha So long story short, we walked a mile in hail and freezing rain back to our cars. We drove to the Church building and went inside to get dry. We were bored so we went to the kitchen and made pancakes. I made them on a cookie sheet since there were no pans. I have to say, they were quite good. Then we went home, showered and then went to Safeway and did some shopping.

Paint Mine, CO
A lot of members have been taking good care of us. 

Sister Boyd who is the Primary President in our ward asked me and Elder Fox to act out the story of Pharaoh and Moses for the primary kids. I really tried to milk the part of Pharaoh and I guess I did a good job because one of the kids blurted out (after I had decided to keep the Israelites in Egypt for the 9th time) BOY I WISH I HAD SOME FIREY HAIL RIGHT ABOUT NOW!! It was hilarious. 

There is another really amazing family in the ward called the Brokers. Matt (the father) is an Iraq war vet who was actually baptized on an aircraft carrier on his way to Baghdad. He was in the Marines. He served until he suffered a TBI (traumatic brain injury) and up until about a few months ago he couldn't even walk. Now he is doing a lot better and is back working with disabled or disenfranchised veterans and he also works on his ranch. We got to help them out the other day at their ranch and it is every man's dream. He has 20 acres that include (but are not limited to) a rifle range, a car garage, and a man cave in the basement. Super awesome. Brother Broker is really smart and gave a wonderful talk the other day in sacrament. He has quite an amazing testimony. Super nice family. 
Only in Colorado -
Marijuana Store

So our area is relatively conservative and similar to Beaufort but Colorado Springs itself is a different story. Today we went and hiked an insane mountain called the Manitou Incline. It was literally a mile hike...VERTICALLY. (See the pics below) Manitou is like the quintessential hippie town. It is really cool and everyone is really nice. There are Marijuana shops everywhere haha. On Thursday we drove like 15 miles just to get some Chick Fil-A a after district meeting. It was worth every mile. 

The other night I watched a movie called "The Testaments". It is about when Christ comes and visits the Americas. I watched it in Spanish and I had such an amazing spiritual experience. It really spoke to me! I think that because I have heard so many lies and such in English that I think for me it was different. When I heard it in Spanish I had to struggle to listen and get all of the words so basically it was just pure and wonderful gospel truths. Spanish is such a pure and simple language and because I have limited knowledge of it, I simply was having pure testimony. It truly testified to me that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true in every language. Jesus Christ is the Savior of all people- regardless of color, class, or creed. Please watch it - it is amazing! 

On Sunday I was reading a lot for some reason about forgiveness and funny enough the story of Les Miserables came to my mind. I realized that we are all Jean Valjean and we are in desperate need of forgiveness. No one likes Javert but if we refuse to forgive others we are that relentless man of justice who demands no forgiveness! I have been really trying to follow the counsel of Jesus Christ in 3rd Nephi 13. (https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/3-ne/13?lang=eng) Although it may seem impossible to forgive some people now, we must remember that we are all sinners and all we can do is beg for forgiveness from His mighty hand. 

Sometimes (a lot of times) I feel like Gatsby, always searching and yearning for that green light in the distance. However at least for the next two years I have found that elusive green light - my purpose is to heal souls by bringing others the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Jesus Christ is the Savior of all people. I know that the restored gospel is on the earth today, and I am so glad to be a part of the work.

I love all of you and miss you very much!!
Elder Clancy

P.S.  SO AMAZING for Jason to make the USC team! Make sure you tell him congrats from me.
P.S. Please send me Brandon's email.

Enjoying the nice 70 degree weather
at the wilkes house (where we live)


The Curnows house 
A note about the Curnows - one Sunday one of their youth (about 6 or 7) was bearing his testimony about how "tough" family life was and he stopped and sighed...saying "Boy, you know sometimes..its hard to be a Curnow" and of course the whole congregation cracked up, and now the whole ward has that as their catch phrase. Their dad is the dive coach at the AF academy.

Holding a baby chick at a member's house after dinner (fun fact - the Brinkworth
family named all of their children after cars, Iroc, Elantra, and Mercedes)
Almost to the top.
The weird sky - there has been a lot of fires out west and it makes the sun red at night
The beginning of the Manitou Incline...look online how much of a steep incline it is

At the top!

9,000 feet later
Our district: Sister Reeder from Utah, Sister Hall from Canada, Sister Park from
South Korea, Elder Smith from Virginia,  Elder Fox from Georgia and
not pictured new Elder Meyer from Texas. 

The Road Less Traveled!

On the way up!


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